How to protect plants from slugs and snails
You won't get rid of every slug, and you don't need to, but you can protect the plants they love. Here are the methods that work, based on RHS advice, and the ones that don't.
- Time
- Ongoing
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Cost
- Low cost
- Steps
- 7
- Checked
What you’ll need
- Torch, for evening hunts
- Gloves or a bucket for collecting
- Biological control nematodes (optional) Search Amazon for slug nematodes
- Cloches or bottle collars to protect seedlings (optional) Search Amazon for plant cloche
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The Amazon links go to search results, so you can compare what’s available.
Safety first
- Outdoor use of slug pellets containing metaldehyde is banned in Great Britain because of the risk to birds and mammals. Don't use any old stock you find in the shed. Take it to your council's household waste site.
- The RHS discourages all slug pellets because of their effects on wildlife. If you do use pellets, choose ferric phosphate, scatter them thinly as the label says and keep pets away.
Step by step
-
Step 1: Accept some slugs
Slugs and snails are food for birds, hedgehogs, frogs, toads and beetles, and many species eat decaying plant material rather than your plants. The aim is to protect vulnerable plants, not wipe them out.
Next: step 2 -
Step 2: Protect the most vulnerable plants
Seedlings, young lettuce, hostas and dahlias are favourites. Raise seedlings in pots until they're bigger and sturdier before planting out, and use cloches or cut-off plastic bottles over young plants.
Next: step 3 -
Step 3: Choose plants they don't like
Woody plants and those with tough, hairy, waxy or aromatic leaves are less appealing to slugs. Think lavender, rosemary, geraniums (cranesbills), and ornamental grasses.
Next: step 4 -
Step 4: Water in the morning
The RHS suggests watering in the morning rather than the evening, so the soil surface is drier at night when slugs are active.
Next: step 5 -
Step 5: Go on a torchlight hunt
On mild, damp evenings, go out with a torch and pick slugs and snails off your plants. Move them well away, or dispose of them. Regular hunts in spring make a real difference.
Next: step 6 -
Step 6: Try nematodes
A biological control containing the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is watered into the soil and kills slugs below ground. The RHS says it works when the soil is between 5 and 20°C, from spring to early autumn, in moist, well-drained soil. It's less effective on heavy clay and unlikely to control snails.
Next: step 7 -
Step 7: Encourage predators
A small pond, log piles, and gaps under fences for hedgehogs all bring in natural slug eaters.
Tips
- An RHS study found no reduction in slug damage from barriers such as copper tape, bark mulch, crushed eggshells, sharp grit or wool pellets. Save your money.
- Beer traps catch some slugs, but they also drown beetles that eat slugs. Leave the rim a couple of centimetres above the soil to help beetles escape.
- In winter, clear fallen leaves and lightly rake bare soil to expose slug eggs to birds.
Questions people ask
Are slug pellets banned in the UK?
Metaldehyde slug pellets are banned for outdoor use in Great Britain. Ferric phosphate pellets are still allowed, but the RHS advises against using pellets because of the effect on wildlife.
Does copper tape stop slugs?
An RHS trial found copper tape, eggshells, grit, bark and wool pellets made no difference to slug damage.
When should I apply nematodes?
When the soil is between about 5 and 20°C, typically spring to early autumn, onto moist soil in the evening.
Sources
Checked 9 October 2026. We wrote this guide in our own words, using:
Was this guide helpful?
Report a problem with this guide
Printed from howtoguides.uk/guides/how-to-get-rid-of-slugs-and-snails/ · Checked 9 October 2026 · General information only. For gas, electrics, structural work, medical, legal or money decisions, use a qualified professional.